Joey Saputo | |
|---|---|
| Born | Giuseppe Saputo (1964-09-25)September 25, 1964 (age 61) Montreal, Canada |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Spouse | Carmie Saputo |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent | Lino Saputo |
Giuseppe"Joey" Saputo (born September 25, 1964) is a Canadian businessman, the president ofCF Montréalsoccer team he founded in 1992, and owner ofSaputo Stadium, named for his family'sdairy products companySaputo Inc.[1] He is also the chairman of the Italian football clubBologna.
Saputo is the son ofEmanuele "Lino" Saputo, the founder, former chairman & CEO, and majority shareholder of Saputo Inc., a Canadian dairy products company that also markets a range of other items including spaghetti sauce. Saputo previously ownedVachon Inc., the snack company responsible for theJos Louis dessert.[2] Joey Saputo has four sons.[1]
In 1985, Saputo began working for the family business, Saputo Inc., adairy processing company founded by his father Lino Saputo in 1954. In 1990, he was promoted to president andchief operating officer of the Dairy Products Division for the United States. After occupying various positions within the organization, he was named Senior Vice President of Commercial and Business Development in January 2004.[1]
Saputo was the first president of Montreal Impact in 1992 when the Saputo Group was the team's sole owner. Under his leadership, the club was sold to a group ofshareholders in 1999. In 2002, the team was incorporated as anon-profit organization, and he played a "pivotal role in the re-launch of the club" and returned as president. He then spearheaded the construction ofSaputo Stadium, the team's new home, inaugurated atOlympic Park, Montreal, on May 19, 2008.[1]
By 2007, he had left the Saputo Group in order to focus on the Impact. In 2012, he led the club's entry intoMajor League Soccer and oversaw the Saputo Stadium's expansion. Under his leadership, "professional soccer's popularity has soared to unprecedented heights inQuebec", with the Impact having won three championships, two Canadian championships, and reached the finals of theCONCACAF Champions League.[1] In 2021, the Impact were renamed asCF Montréal.[3]
Saputo is the majority shareholder[citation needed] in a consortium (BFC 1909 LuxSPVSA) that bought the Italian football clubBologna on October 15, 2014.[4][5] He was nominated as the nextchairman of the club in anextraordinary general meeting on November 17, 2014,[4] replacingJoe Tacopina, who retained the position untilannual general meeting on December 22, 2014.[4]
In addition to his work at the Saputo Group and CF Montreal, Saputo has also been involved in managing his family's assets, consolidated under Jolina Capital ("the Saputo family company"),[6] anasset management company where he was president from March 2001 to January 2004.[7] Jolina Capital is a shareholder—and frequently a majority shareholder—in companies spanning sectors as diverse as food, transportation,softwood lumber, andreal estate.[1]
Saputo is currently on the board of directors ofTransForce, a publicly traded Canadiantransport andlogistics company, where he has been an independent director since 1996.[8]
Saputo is involved in the Montreal community and serves on the boards of theSainte-Justine University Hospital Centre Foundation, PROCURE, an organization that seeks to prevent and cureprostate cancer,[9] and theItalian-Canadian Community Foundation (his father immigrated fromMontelepre,Sicily, in the 1950s).[10]